Signing up for health insurance through the network of state and federal insurance exchange websites has proven difficult enough in its own right. Now, millions of Americans attempting to navigate the myriad of changes to the nation's health care system also have to avoid a legion of online scammers looking to take advantage of widespread confusion about the law's implementation.

Officials around the country have warned those attempting to sign up for insurance about the existence of fake exchange sites designed to steal users' personal information and credit card numbers.

"I can say with a high degree of certainty … [these sorts of scams] will come," Gary Davis, vice president of global consumer marketing at consumer cyber-security firm McAfee, told Fox Business. "We live in a world where people look at compelling events and look to do something malicious. This is just the nature of the beast." Read more...

Signing up for health insurance through the network of state and federal insurance exchange websites has proven difficult enough in its own right. Now, millions of Americans attempting to navigate the myriad of changes to the nation's health care system also have to avoid a legion of online scammers looking to take advantage of widespread confusion about the law's implementation.

Officials around the country have warned those attempting to sign up for insurance about the existence of fake exchange sites designed to steal users' personal information and credit card numbers.

"I can say with a high degree of certainty … [these sorts of scams] will come," Gary Davis, vice president of global consumer marketing at consumer cyber-security firm McAfee, told Fox Business. "We live in a world where people look at compelling events and look to do something malicious. This is just the nature of the beast." Read more...

A few days after most federal agencies shut down for the government furlough, the review group designed to see if the National Security Agency violated Americans’ privacy rights has decided to take a breather, too.

Former CIA head Michael Morell, one of the panel’s five members, told Politico that though the group was officially deemed essential to the country’s operations, he didn’t feel that was apt.

“[Our work] is no more important than — and quite frankly a lot less important — than a lot of the work being left undone by the government shutdown, both in the intelligence community and outside the intelligence community,” he said Saturday. Read more...

A few days after most federal agencies shut down for the government furlough, the review group designed to see if the National Security Agency violated Americans’ privacy rights has decided to take a breather, too.

Former CIA head Michael Morell, one of the panel’s five members, told Politico that though the group was officially deemed essential to the country’s operations, he didn’t feel that was apt.

“[Our work] is no more important than — and quite frankly a lot less important — than a lot of the work being left undone by the government shutdown, both in the intelligence community and outside the intelligence community,” he said Saturday. Read more...

This Thanksgiving — sorry, this Hanukkah — something amazing is happening. Nov. 28 is the first day of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, and it’s the first time in history the two holidays fall on the same date. It also won’t happen again until the year 79,811 — another 77,798 years from now. Thank an annual drift in the Jewish calendar.

Move over, Festivus. The Internet has a new holiday obsession. Make room for — wait for it — Thanksgivukkah.

While this holiday doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily as "Festivus," it has nevertheless made a major splash on the Internet without the use of a 13-year-old Seinfeld episode. Fruitcakes and possibly the government shutdown might last another 2,500 generations, but most of us certainly will not. Thus, Jewish and non-Jewish Internet users alike are seizing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to mark Thanksgivukkah. Read more...

This Thanksgiving — sorry, this Hanukkah — something amazing is happening. Nov. 28 is the first day of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, and it’s the first time in history the two holidays fall on the same date. It also won’t happen again until the year 79,811 — another 77,798 years from now. Thank an annual drift in the Jewish calendar.

Move over, Festivus. The Internet has a new holiday obsession. Make room for — wait for it — Thanksgivukkah.

While this holiday doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily as "Festivus," it has nevertheless made a major splash on the Internet without the use of a 13-year-old Seinfeld episode. Fruitcakes and possibly the government shutdown might last another 2,500 generations, but most of us certainly will not. Thus, Jewish and non-Jewish Internet users alike are seizing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to mark Thanksgivukkah. Read more...

Amanda Roman had dreams for her fairy tale wedding. On Pinterest she made them concrete, to the tune of over 220 pins covering what her perfect day would be like.

Fortunately for Amanda, her soulmate turned out to be just as good at reading her Pinterest as he was at reading her heart.

When her boyfriend of five years, Ryan Leak, overheard her tell a friend that it had always been her dream to get engaged and married on the same day, he was first puzzled, then intrigued. “How does that even work?” he wondered.

Ryan decided to do some investigation. While at first he had nowhere to start, he quickly realized that Amanda had 224 photos on her Pinterest on a board called “My Dream Wedding.” Read more...

Amanda Roman had dreams for her fairy tale wedding. On Pinterest she made them concrete, to the tune of over 220 pins covering what her perfect day would be like.

Fortunately for Amanda, her soulmate turned out to be just as good at reading her Pinterest as he was at reading her heart.

When her boyfriend of five years, Ryan Leak, overheard her tell a friend that it had always been her dream to get engaged and married on the same day, he was first puzzled, then intrigued. “How does that even work?” he wondered.

Ryan decided to do some investigation. While at first he had nowhere to start, he quickly realized that Amanda had 224 photos on her Pinterest on a board called “My Dream Wedding.” Read more...

For Joseph Scales, the answer is simple: post another video showing off your incredible talent.

Scales, a longtime Redditor, got a jump on his career as a voice actor through support from the social news site. It began in early 2012, when he posted his take on Morgan Freeman’s famous monologue from the Shawshank Redemption. The video was upvoted to Reddit’s front page, and now has more than 700,000 views. Read more...

For Joseph Scales, the answer is simple: post another video showing off your incredible talent.

Scales, a longtime Redditor, got a jump on his career as a voice actor through support from the social news site. It began in early 2012, when he posted his take on Morgan Freeman’s famous monologue from the Shawshank Redemption. The video was upvoted to Reddit’s front page, and now has more than 700,000 views. Read more...

Just in time for Banned Books Week, the Internet's largest book-review site is hosting a meltdown over a new policy that many of its members feel is a blatant act of censorship.

The problem that Goodreads attempted to solve in its recently announced review policy update was one that has plagued the publishing community and book blogosphere for some time: the issue of authors and reviewers behaving badly. Last year, authors angry at reviewers for leaving negative feedback spawned a campaign to "stop the Goodreads bullies" [STGRB], which in turn has made a habit of harassing and calling out negative reviewers. Read more...

Just in time for Banned Books Week, the Internet's largest book-review site is hosting a meltdown over a new policy that many of its members feel is a blatant act of censorship.

The problem that Goodreads attempted to solve in its recently announced review policy update was one that has plagued the publishing community and book blogosphere for some time: the issue of authors and reviewers behaving badly. Last year, authors angry at reviewers for leaving negative feedback spawned a campaign to "stop the Goodreads bullies" [STGRB], which in turn has made a habit of harassing and calling out negative reviewers. Read more...

The online literary world is abuzz Wednesday with the naming of this year’s MacArthur "genius" fellows, but even on a day of writerly cheer, there's a bitter bookish argument to be had in the Internet’s gutters. This time, it’s about some comments made by award-winning novelist and University of Toronto professor David Gilmour in a feature on publishing website Hazlitt, an extension of Random House of Canada.

Gilmour was the subject of a column called “Shelf Esteem,” which is a “weekly measure of the books on the shelves of writers, editors, and other word lovers, as told to Emily M. Keeler.” Keeler herself was understandably taken aback by what he said when she remarked that his academic office had only two books by women in it. Read more...

The online literary world is abuzz Wednesday with the naming of this year’s MacArthur "genius" fellows, but even on a day of writerly cheer, there's a bitter bookish argument to be had in the Internet’s gutters. This time, it’s about some comments made by award-winning novelist and University of Toronto professor David Gilmour in a feature on publishing website Hazlitt, an extension of Random House of Canada.

Gilmour was the subject of a column called “Shelf Esteem,” which is a “weekly measure of the books on the shelves of writers, editors, and other word lovers, as told to Emily M. Keeler.” Keeler herself was understandably taken aback by what he said when she remarked that his academic office had only two books by women in it. Read more...

Any good parent knows that to make a punishment stick, you’ve got to get creative. Getting grounded is nothing compared to customized consequences. Just ask the Australian girl whose mother put her One Direction tickets up for auction on eBay.

It’s not just one ticket, either, but four — apparently purchased for the daughter’s birthday so that she and a few friends could see the massively popular boy band live in concert. Alas, it was not to be, as a pattern of misbehavior among this clique of young ladies forced mom to play her trump card, shaming the kids in the process.

The screed was posted along with the tickets — the current bid is a whopping $760 AU ($716) and sure to climb still higher — is really too good to summarize. It’s a bit unhinged and brutally frank, with a merciless sense of ultimate judgment, and borders on a declaration of revenge. Read more...

Any good parent knows that to make a punishment stick, you’ve got to get creative. Getting grounded is nothing compared to customized consequences. Just ask the Australian girl whose mother put her One Direction tickets up for auction on eBay.

It’s not just one ticket, either, but four — apparently purchased for the daughter’s birthday so that she and a few friends could see the massively popular boy band live in concert. Alas, it was not to be, as a pattern of misbehavior among this clique of young ladies forced mom to play her trump card, shaming the kids in the process.

The screed was posted along with the tickets — the current bid is a whopping $760 AU ($716) and sure to climb still higher — is really too good to summarize. It’s a bit unhinged and brutally frank, with a merciless sense of ultimate judgment, and borders on a declaration of revenge. Read more...

Over the last few days, Twitter spammers have been urging users to find out Louis Tomlinson's phone number, hear a leaked version of One Direction's new album and get a free iPhone.

What's notable is that these spammers weren't sending tweets or direct messages. Instead, they made use of Twitter's list function, adding people to various lists and indirectly pointing thousands of users toward spam sites.

Lists are typically used to organize Twitter users into more distinct groups. You might have separate lists for celebrities, colleagues and friends, which allows you to monitor several different streams at the same time through tools like TweetDeck. A few months back, Twitter increased the number of lists each user can have from 20 to 1,000 and the maximum number of accounts in each list from 500 to 5,000. Read more...

Over the last few days, Twitter spammers have been urging users to find out Louis Tomlinson's phone number, hear a leaked version of One Direction's new album and get a free iPhone.

What's notable is that these spammers weren't sending tweets or direct messages. Instead, they made use of Twitter's list function, adding people to various lists and indirectly pointing thousands of users toward spam sites.

Lists are typically used to organize Twitter users into more distinct groups. You might have separate lists for celebrities, colleagues and friends, which allows you to monitor several different streams at the same time through tools like TweetDeck. A few months back, Twitter increased the number of lists each user can have from 20 to 1,000 and the maximum number of accounts in each list from 500 to 5,000. Read more...

The Super Bowl and World Cup are fiercely competitive sporting events that pit rivals against each other for the ultimate victory. And we're not talking about the teams — it's all about the mighty struggle between Airbnb owners and renters.

The site typically affords travelers a low-budget way to check out a new city by renting spare couches, rooms and apartments that users list. But when the NFL's big dance hits the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a 20-minute drive from Manhattan, local Airbnb hosts are set to cash in.

Let's take a look first at a listing close to Times Square for the first weekend in February. It's a small, stuffy, private room that normally rents for $91 a night. For Super Bowl weekend, it will cost $427 a night. A nearby room is $155 a night on the regular and $640 over Super Bowl weekend. Read more...

The Super Bowl and World Cup are fiercely competitive sporting events that pit rivals against each other for the ultimate victory. And we're not talking about the teams — it's all about the mighty struggle between Airbnb owners and renters.

The site typically affords travelers a low-budget way to check out a new city by renting spare couches, rooms and apartments that users list. But when the NFL's big dance hits the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a 20-minute drive from Manhattan, local Airbnb hosts are set to cash in.

Let's take a look first at a listing close to Times Square for the first weekend in February. It's a small, stuffy, private room that normally rents for $91 a night. For Super Bowl weekend, it will cost $427 a night. A nearby room is $155 a night on the regular and $640 over Super Bowl weekend. Read more...

One of them, dedicated to the Kepler mission that searches for habitable exoplanets, had an announcement posted that read, "Down for Maintenance: The requested webpage is down for maintenance. Please try again later."

AsNaked Security noted, these websites are all hosted in the heart of Silicon Valley. Although NASA is a high-profile hacking target, CWZ CyberCrime maintains the agency “is now more famous for its poor cyber security rather than anything else.”

One of them, dedicated to the Kepler mission that searches for habitable exoplanets, had an announcement posted that read, "Down for Maintenance: The requested webpage is down for maintenance. Please try again later."

AsNaked Security noted, these websites are all hosted in the heart of Silicon Valley. Although NASA is a high-profile hacking target, CWZ CyberCrime maintains the agency “is now more famous for its poor cyber security rather than anything else.”

If you cannot live without all-night sessions burrowing through the Wikipedia rabbit hole or the constant influx of content on your Twitter feed, a U.S. hospital is offering some respite — as long as you have $14,000 to spare.

Starting next Monday, the voluntary inpatient program at the Bradford Regional Medical Center, in Bradford, Pa., promises to treat those who are addicted to the Internet. Addiction experts will treat patients at the hospital's behavioral health services department, the wing that also treats substance addiction

The psychologist who created the program, Dr. Kimberly Young, told Fox News that Internet addiction may be more prevalent than substance addiction since it is "free, legal, and fat-free." Young, Motherboard notes, wrote a book on Internet addiction as early as 1996 and is an expert in the field. She founded the Center for Internet Addiction at the Bradford hospital in 1995, though this is apparently her first inpatient program for Internet addiction. Read more...

If you cannot live without all-night sessions burrowing through the Wikipedia rabbit hole or the constant influx of content on your Twitter feed, a U.S. hospital is offering some respite — as long as you have $14,000 to spare.

Starting next Monday, the voluntary inpatient program at the Bradford Regional Medical Center, in Bradford, Pa., promises to treat those who are addicted to the Internet. Addiction experts will treat patients at the hospital's behavioral health services department, the wing that also treats substance addiction

The psychologist who created the program, Dr. Kimberly Young, told Fox News that Internet addiction may be more prevalent than substance addiction since it is "free, legal, and fat-free." Young, Motherboard notes, wrote a book on Internet addiction as early as 1996 and is an expert in the field. She founded the Center for Internet Addiction at the Bradford hospital in 1995, though this is apparently her first inpatient program for Internet addiction. Read more...

Over the years, Japan has earned a reputation for producing some of the most bizarre and highly entertaining content on the planet. Thanks to games like Japan World Cup 3, it's easy to see why.

Originally released in 2011, Japan World Cup is a computer-generated Web browser game in which players bet on the outcomes of races that feature jockeys riding anything from a Trojan horse to a Yeti. In 2012, these predetermined scenes were compiled into three DVDs (a copy of Japan World Cup 3 can be purchased for $34.49 on Amazon).

To say that the racing sequences are absurd would be an understatement. In May, Hightower and AxialMatt of the Achievement Hunter Community Video channel uploaded a five-minute clip with footage from the third DVD to YouTube. The insanity of the game — which features a horse on its hind legs doing the Charleston as well as a limousine equine with multiple naked jockeys on its back — coupled with the hilarious reaction heard on the voice-overs, is a great recipe for laughs. Read more...

Over the years, Japan has earned a reputation for producing some of the most bizarre and highly entertaining content on the planet. Thanks to games like Japan World Cup 3, it's easy to see why.

Originally released in 2011, Japan World Cup is a computer-generated Web browser game in which players bet on the outcomes of races that feature jockeys riding anything from a Trojan horse to a Yeti. In 2012, these predetermined scenes were compiled into three DVDs (a copy of Japan World Cup 3 can be purchased for $34.49 on Amazon).

To say that the racing sequences are absurd would be an understatement. In May, Hightower and AxialMatt of the Achievement Hunter Community Video channel uploaded a five-minute clip with footage from the third DVD to YouTube. The insanity of the game — which features a horse on its hind legs doing the Charleston as well as a limousine equine with multiple naked jockeys on its back — coupled with the hilarious reaction heard on the voice-overs, is a great recipe for laughs. Read more...

I mean, I've written a lot about them. I've talked to their media contacts. I've been denied clarifications. I've pored over their press releases and page after page of NSA documents that former contractor Edward Snowden took from them and leaked to the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald.

Yet when I sent the NSA a formal request through the Freedom of Information Act, asking what the agency had collected on me through two big programs — a telephone metadata collection program and PRISM — they acted like I was a total newbie at this stuff. Read more...

I mean, I've written a lot about them. I've talked to their media contacts. I've been denied clarifications. I've pored over their press releases and page after page of NSA documents that former contractor Edward Snowden took from them and leaked to the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald.

Yet when I sent the NSA a formal request through the Freedom of Information Act, asking what the agency had collected on me through two big programs — a telephone metadata collection program and PRISM — they acted like I was a total newbie at this stuff. Read more...

Next time you're casually perusing Thailand through Google Street View, you might want to be grateful for the driver who got you those shots.

Villagers in northern Thailand have apologized for suspecting a Google Maps driver was secretly surveying for a criticized dam project, detaining him and making him swear on a Buddha statue that he was telling the truth, according to The Bangkok Post.

Residents of the country's Phrae province have long staunchly opposed a proposed government dam project, which environmental activists say would devastate local forests.

So when Deeprom Phongphon casually drove up and down village streets in a car with a giant camera sticking out the top — even though the car was painted in that Google Maps pattern — residents grew suspicious. Approximately 20 of them surrounded his car, forcing him to stop, and badgered him with questions. Read more...

Next time you're casually perusing Thailand through Google Street View, you might want to be grateful for the driver who got you those shots.

Villagers in northern Thailand have apologized for suspecting a Google Maps driver was secretly surveying for a criticized dam project, detaining him and making him swear on a Buddha statue that he was telling the truth, according to The Bangkok Post.

Residents of the country's Phrae province have long staunchly opposed a proposed government dam project, which environmental activists say would devastate local forests.

So when Deeprom Phongphon casually drove up and down village streets in a car with a giant camera sticking out the top — even though the car was painted in that Google Maps pattern — residents grew suspicious. Approximately 20 of them surrounded his car, forcing him to stop, and badgered him with questions. Read more...

An American redditor caught in Egypt's current state of chaos has uploaded a trove of pictures for anyone to use, view or share.

"I took the metro to the protest to save money, and pretty much just walked into it," user campbmic posted to Reddit's r/news. "I have a camera and an iPhone (only wifi no service) I had to upload my pictures at an Internet cafe."

Campbmic, whose recent Reddit history shows he's been traveling around the world, arrived in Cairo Tuesday night. He said he then spent all day Wednesday among the protesters, who "welcomed" him to join them once he explained he wanted to share their story. Read more...

An American redditor caught in Egypt's current state of chaos has uploaded a trove of pictures for anyone to use, view or share.

"I took the metro to the protest to save money, and pretty much just walked into it," user campbmic posted to Reddit's r/news. "I have a camera and an iPhone (only wifi no service) I had to upload my pictures at an Internet cafe."

Campbmic, whose recent Reddit history shows he's been traveling around the world, arrived in Cairo Tuesday night. He said he then spent all day Wednesday among the protesters, who "welcomed" him to join them once he explained he wanted to share their story. Read more...

The world's most notorious file-sharing service wasn't supposed to last this long.

"Not because of cops, mafiaa or corrupt politicians," the admins of the Pirate Bayadmitted Friday in a typo-ridden post. "But because we thought that we'd eventually be to old for this shit. But hey, running this ship makes us feel young."

Indeed, to commemorate its 10th anniversary, Pirate Bay launched a new browser to help web users access the site and others like it in regions where they're blocked.

The world's most notorious file-sharing service wasn't supposed to last this long.

"Not because of cops, mafiaa or corrupt politicians," the admins of the Pirate Bayadmitted Friday in a typo-ridden post. "But because we thought that we'd eventually be to old for this shit. But hey, running this ship makes us feel young."

Indeed, to commemorate its 10th anniversary, Pirate Bay launched a new browser to help web users access the site and others like it in regions where they're blocked.

Easter Eggs have long been a staple in video games, TV shows and even movies. They're hidden nods to the audience by the designers, inserted to reward superfans who take the time to look for them.

In YouTube's Geek Week Easter Egg hunt, you don't win for being the first to uncover an egg. You earn a series of badges (think Pokémon) for every Easter Egg you unlock, for taking the Geek IQ test and for watching as many Geek Week videos as possible.

Easter Eggs have long been a staple in video games, TV shows and even movies. They're hidden nods to the audience by the designers, inserted to reward superfans who take the time to look for them.

In YouTube's Geek Week Easter Egg hunt, you don't win for being the first to uncover an egg. You earn a series of badges (think Pokémon) for every Easter Egg you unlock, for taking the Geek IQ test and for watching as many Geek Week videos as possible.

The web is full of misanthropes, self-proclaimed critics and naysayers. A wealth of opinion can fuel an online debate and also derail it. This is especially true of YouTube, where Godwin's Law is often invoked.

Hark! Behold the critical mastery of YouTube commenter ronnyjohnson618, a self-appointed expert on everything — at least where YouTube videos are concerned. Even more impressive, he seems to have held almost every job imaginable and has no qualms telling you what's making him mad. He's sort of like the Internet's Andy Rooney. Thankfully, some hero redditor collected all his criticisms in one place. Read more...

The web is full of misanthropes, self-proclaimed critics and naysayers. A wealth of opinion can fuel an online debate and also derail it. This is especially true of YouTube, where Godwin's Law is often invoked.

Hark! Behold the critical mastery of YouTube commenter ronnyjohnson618, a self-appointed expert on everything — at least where YouTube videos are concerned. Even more impressive, he seems to have held almost every job imaginable and has no qualms telling you what's making him mad. He's sort of like the Internet's Andy Rooney. Thankfully, some hero redditor collected all his criticisms in one place. Read more...

More often than not, video game developers cast their female characters as beautiful damsels in distress who need to be saved by their games' male heroes. In the latest installment of pop culture critic and Feminist Frequency creator Anita Sarkeesian’s series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, she explores this trope and shows how easily it can be turned on its head.

This video is the last in a three-part mini-series exploring the damsel in distress trope. At the end of the video, Sarkeesian states that a game can subvert the trope if it focuses on the damsel in distress as the main playable character and her story. While it's no surprise that few games exist like this, Sarkeesian offers her own hypothetical concept for a video game called The Legend of the Last Princess as an example of how it would work. Read more...

More often than not, video game developers cast their female characters as beautiful damsels in distress who need to be saved by their games' male heroes. In the latest installment of pop culture critic and Feminist Frequency creator Anita Sarkeesian’s series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, she explores this trope and shows how easily it can be turned on its head.

This video is the last in a three-part mini-series exploring the damsel in distress trope. At the end of the video, Sarkeesian states that a game can subvert the trope if it focuses on the damsel in distress as the main playable character and her story. While it's no surprise that few games exist like this, Sarkeesian offers her own hypothetical concept for a video game called The Legend of the Last Princess as an example of how it would work. Read more...

In 2011, Google launched the Google Science Communication Fellows program, hiring 21 "early to mid-career Ph.D. scientists nominated by leaders in climate change research and science-based institutions across the U.S." On July 11, they threw a fundraiser for the reelection campaign of Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), a man who loudly dismisses climate change as a hoax.

Something, as they say, had to give.

A strongly worded letter, signed by 17 of those 21 outstandingly intelligent fellows, found its way to Google CEO Larry Page and executive chairman Eric Schmidt. In it, the Google scientists blast their company for its opportunistic affiliation: Read more...

In 2011, Google launched the Google Science Communication Fellows program, hiring 21 "early to mid-career Ph.D. scientists nominated by leaders in climate change research and science-based institutions across the U.S." On July 11, they threw a fundraiser for the reelection campaign of Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), a man who loudly dismisses climate change as a hoax.

Something, as they say, had to give.

A strongly worded letter, signed by 17 of those 21 outstandingly intelligent fellows, found its way to Google CEO Larry Page and executive chairman Eric Schmidt. In it, the Google scientists blast their company for its opportunistic affiliation: Read more...

He may not be using filters, but Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's photos are deceptively framed all the same.

Al-Assad, who assumed office in 2000 and has presided over the deaths of 100,000 citizens since Syria’s bloody civil war erupted more than two years ago, announced via Twitter that he had joined the photo-sharing network Instagram.

"Presidency of the Republic officially launches account on Instagram, lets you follow presidential activities. Follow us first hand," the message reads, offering a link.

He may not be using filters, but Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's photos are deceptively framed all the same.

Al-Assad, who assumed office in 2000 and has presided over the deaths of 100,000 citizens since Syria’s bloody civil war erupted more than two years ago, announced via Twitter that he had joined the photo-sharing network Instagram.

"Presidency of the Republic officially launches account on Instagram, lets you follow presidential activities. Follow us first hand," the message reads, offering a link.

Corporations are too busy these days to sniff out copyright infringements. Many rely on automated systems to generate Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requestsMicrosoft, for example, uses LeakID, which resulted in a delightful faux pas: It tried to censor itself.

The offending links listed in the complaint direct to the official Microsoft.com, encompassing various French-language product and technical support pages. So the company was right to be suspicious: They have Microsoft in France? Microsoft offers technical support? It all sounds pretty fishy on this end.

Corporations are too busy these days to sniff out copyright infringements. Many rely on automated systems to generate Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requestsMicrosoft, for example, uses LeakID, which resulted in a delightful faux pas: It tried to censor itself.

The offending links listed in the complaint direct to the official Microsoft.com, encompassing various French-language product and technical support pages. So the company was right to be suspicious: They have Microsoft in France? Microsoft offers technical support? It all sounds pretty fishy on this end.

Crying "I've been hacked!" to cover up a big mistake on Twitter is all too easy. You'll have skeptics and you might have to work hard to convince them your lie is the truth, in part because some people and brands intentionally fake hacks as a desperate cry for attention. Sometimes, covering up your error might mean shelling out thousands of dollars.

Back in 2011, then-Congressman Anthony Weiner tweeted a photo of his crotch in a botched direct message. The recipient, of course, was not his wife, Huma Abedin. At first, Weiner claimed he'd been hacked and that someone else had thrown the intimate image onto his feed. Read more...

Crying "I've been hacked!" to cover up a big mistake on Twitter is all too easy. You'll have skeptics and you might have to work hard to convince them your lie is the truth, in part because some people and brands intentionally fake hacks as a desperate cry for attention. Sometimes, covering up your error might mean shelling out thousands of dollars.

Back in 2011, then-Congressman Anthony Weiner tweeted a photo of his crotch in a botched direct message. The recipient, of course, was not his wife, Huma Abedin. At first, Weiner claimed he'd been hacked and that someone else had thrown the intimate image onto his feed. Read more...

Death threats, rape threats and misogynist hate mail. If you're a woman who likes to express her opinion on the Internet, these might seem like inevitable responses. Just ask Anita Sarkeesian.

But this week may have been the final straw when it comes to Twitter's sexist hate mail problem. After feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez received 50 rape threats in an hour, people began to sit up and take notice: The threats were plain to see, and Twitter didn't seem to be doing anything about it.

So, what did Criado-Perez do to inspire this level of vitriol? Not even anything particularly controversial: She'd led a campaign for a woman to be put on British banknotes. Read more...

Death threats, rape threats and misogynist hate mail. If you're a woman who likes to express her opinion on the Internet, these might seem like inevitable responses. Just ask Anita Sarkeesian.

But this week may have been the final straw when it comes to Twitter's sexist hate mail problem. After feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez received 50 rape threats in an hour, people began to sit up and take notice: The threats were plain to see, and Twitter didn't seem to be doing anything about it.

So, what did Criado-Perez do to inspire this level of vitriol? Not even anything particularly controversial: She'd led a campaign for a woman to be put on British banknotes. Read more...

Last week, Russian activist Alexei Navalny was arrested for politically-motivated embezzlement charges stemming from his use of a social network to organize public demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin. His platform of choice? LiveJournal.

While the blogging service is long-passé in the U.S., due to a series of PR flubs and the rise of Facebook and Twitter, LiveJournal has remained an intrinsic part of Russian Internet culture.

It's so popular, in fact, that LJ (ЖЖ — pronounced "Zhe-Zhe" — in Russian) has become a proprietary eponym for blogging in general. It's a hub for grassroots reporting of current events in a country where TV is largely controlled by the government. It's a place for political discourse, photos of unlikely subjects and, of course, plenty of cute animals pics. Read more...

Last week, Russian activist Alexei Navalny was arrested for politically-motivated embezzlement charges stemming from his use of a social network to organize public demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin. His platform of choice? LiveJournal.

While the blogging service is long-passé in the U.S., due to a series of PR flubs and the rise of Facebook and Twitter, LiveJournal has remained an intrinsic part of Russian Internet culture.

It's so popular, in fact, that LJ (ЖЖ — pronounced "Zhe-Zhe" — in Russian) has become a proprietary eponym for blogging in general. It's a hub for grassroots reporting of current events in a country where TV is largely controlled by the government. It's a place for political discourse, photos of unlikely subjects and, of course, plenty of cute animals pics. Read more...

All UK Internet providers will block online porn later this year, prime minister David Cameron said. And if you want to see smut, you're going to have to ask for it by the end of the year.

Cameron also announced a ban on possessing online porn depicting rape — bringing England and Wales in line with Scotland's rules on the matter.

Automatic porn-blocking filters will be put in place for new Internet provider (ISP) customers by the end of the year, Cameron said, while current customers will be contacted by their providers to ask if they want to restrict adult material on their Internet-connected devices. Read more...

All UK Internet providers will block online porn later this year, prime minister David Cameron said. And if you want to see smut, you're going to have to ask for it by the end of the year.

Cameron also announced a ban on possessing online porn depicting rape — bringing England and Wales in line with Scotland's rules on the matter.

Automatic porn-blocking filters will be put in place for new Internet provider (ISP) customers by the end of the year, Cameron said, while current customers will be contacted by their providers to ask if they want to restrict adult material on their Internet-connected devices. Read more...

Reddit CEO Yishan Wong took to Reddit's r/TheoryOfReddit Wednesday to address concerns that the company removed both as default subreddits—forums that all non-logged-in users see when they visit the site—to make its front page more appealing to advertisers.

Wong echoed an explanation made by Alex Angel (cupcake1713) on the company blog stating that both subreddits were not growing and evolving enough.

"We didn't make the frontpage changes for any revenue-related or mainstreaming reason," Wong wrote. "We made them because (as has actually been discussed in this very subreddit quite often) the default subreddits all evolve in different ways and the community itself begins to find one or more of those subreddits more or less valuable/desirable." Read more...

Reddit CEO Yishan Wong took to Reddit's r/TheoryOfReddit Wednesday to address concerns that the company removed both as default subreddits—forums that all non-logged-in users see when they visit the site—to make its front page more appealing to advertisers.

Wong echoed an explanation made by Alex Angel (cupcake1713) on the company blog stating that both subreddits were not growing and evolving enough.

"We didn't make the frontpage changes for any revenue-related or mainstreaming reason," Wong wrote. "We made them because (as has actually been discussed in this very subreddit quite often) the default subreddits all evolve in different ways and the community itself begins to find one or more of those subreddits more or less valuable/desirable." Read more...

San Diego Comic-Con has arrived. If you're going, you've probably been strategizing for a while now — figuring out which of the massive four-day geek gathering's events to attend. But in the midst of all that planning, have you considered prepping your Twitter feed for Comic-Con?

Twitter can be a great resource at the convention. Keeping an eye on hashtags like #SDCC, #ComicCon, #SDCCLine, #HallH and #Ballroom20 helps you see what information people are sharing about everything from celebrity sightings to panel line lengths. Following interesting people can also keep you from being bored in long lines and offer a unique look at what's happening at the convention. Read more...

San Diego Comic-Con has arrived. If you're going, you've probably been strategizing for a while now — figuring out which of the massive four-day geek gathering's events to attend. But in the midst of all that planning, have you considered prepping your Twitter feed for Comic-Con?

Twitter can be a great resource at the convention. Keeping an eye on hashtags like #SDCC, #ComicCon, #SDCCLine, #HallH and #Ballroom20 helps you see what information people are sharing about everything from celebrity sightings to panel line lengths. Following interesting people can also keep you from being bored in long lines and offer a unique look at what's happening at the convention. Read more...